A variety of microfluidic devices of disparate design have been developed in the past often with the goal of reducing sample volume requirements in bioanalytical methods, integrating multiple steps into automated processes, integrating sample preparation and analysis, and connecting to the full volume world of samples and procedures.
In the absence of standards controlling external dimensional form factors, the nature of the upstream and downstream external interface, and the length, cross-sectional geometry, and diameter of the internal microfluidic pathways, such microfluidic devices often proved incompatible with one another and with existing upstream purification and downstream analytical devices. Despite advances in microfabrication, the processing, reaction, and sample size requirements for many biochemical and chemical reactions have served as obstacles for the creation of microfluidic devices useful in many fields, including nucleic acid sequencing. Thus, there is a need in the art for microfluidic devices that are suitable for use in the processing and recovery of biochemical and chemical reactions for subsequent analyses in these fields.